Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt, who became the first Earl of Ross in the reign of Alexander II, emerges suddenly in the historical record in the early thirteenth century as a powerful regional leader whose origins remain obscure. Contemporary sources record little more than his epithet, mac an t-Sagairt (“son of the priest”), leaving the background of the Ross earldom open to later interpretation. Among the most influential attempts to explain these origins was that of William Reeves, whose 1862 study of the cult of St Maelrubha proposed that Fearchar belonged to a hereditary family of lay abbots at Applecross bearing the surname O’Beolan. Reeves based this reconstruction largely on a group of later Gaelic and local traditions referring to a figure known as the “Red Priest,” which he identified as a single historical individual, Patrick the Red of the fifteenth century. This article argues that Reeves’s interpretation rests upon a conflation of distinct traditions. When the references to the “Red Priest” in the Red Book of Clanranald, the Sleat History, the Old Statistical Account, and Lochcarron tradition are examined individually, they do not support the identification proposed by Reeves and may in some cases refer instead to the Applecross saint Maelrubha. Once these traditions are disentangled, the evidentiary foundation for the supposed Applecross origins of the earls of Ross largely disappears.
The present article therefore does not treat Reeves’s claim as a settled conclusion but as a testable reconstruction: it reviews each source Reeves cites (and each substantive statement he builds upon), identifies where he misreads, conflates, or overextends the evidence, and then reconstructs—so far as the surviving contemporary record permits—the account that the earliest documents actually support.
This was not a story that had come down through the ages or that was discovered by reviewing ancient documents. This was a theory that came to Reeves during his research into the work of Maelrubha.
Reeves weaves the questionable tale that, early on, a family named O'Beollan were hereditary farmers of these abbey-lands. He connects these O'Beollans back to the Irish family Ó Beólláin who were hereditary farmers of the abbey-lands of St Columba's church of Drumcliff. In this tale, these O'Beollans were of the ‘same stock’ as Maelrubha and the first Earl of Ross, Mac-an-tsagairt, “son of the priest”, was of this O'Beollan family. He then finds in several sources a Red Priest, or Sagart Ruadh, who he believes to be the last of this line of hereditary farmers of these abbey-lands of Applecross.
Reeves himself was both an antiquarian and Bishop of the Church of Ireland. His primary interest was the life of the Irish Saint Maelrubha and the churches he founded.[2] This paper was an expansion of an earlier paper that focused on his search for the location of the monastery originally called by the name porcrosn or puor crosn founded in Scotland by Maelrubha.
The original paper made no mention of an O'Beollan family, a Red Priest, or the Earls of Ross. These names all appear in a section of the subsequent paper titled Abbots and Ministers. It's small part of a much larger paper that concentrates on the life and ancestry of Maelrubha and identifiable locations of his missionary works on the west coast of Scotland. Again, as a Bishop of the Church of Ireland, his primary interest was the life and works of the Irish Saint Maelrubha. He goes so far as to say in the earlier paper that, “it must prove gratifying to every lover of his country to find another missionary treading in the steps of St. Columba.” Maelrubha, not the Earls of Ross, were the primary focus of his research.
Reeves’s Construction of the Applecross Lineage
As an antiquarian and Bishop of the Church of Ireland, Reeves's primary interest was the life of the Irish Saint Maelrubha and the churches he founded.[2]
This section discussing the abbots and ministers of Applecross appears to be a story he just pieced together from details he encountered in his attempt to locate the remains of the original monastery at Applecross and work being doing concurrently by Scottish historian William F. Skene. As a member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Reeves would have had opportunity to interact with the likes of William Skene and, in fact, in a footnote, Reeves does credit Skene for several suggestions.
Reeves’s study of St Maelrubha and Applecross remains, in many respects, a careful piece of nineteenth-century scholarship, grounded in wide reading and a genuine concern to reconstruct the saint’s cult and historical footprint in Scotland. The difficulty arises in the portion of the paper—typically cited for its implications for the origins of the earldom of Ross—where Reeves turns from Maelrubha to the later “Abbots and Ministers” of Applecross and advances the argument linking Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt, first Earl of Ross, to Applecross and to an alleged O’Beóllain kindred. In contrast to the more source-driven portions of the article, this section is methodologically uneven: it relies heavily on late traditions and secondary suggestions (including material associated with William F. Skene and local ministerial correspondence), and it proceeds by conflating disparate references—most notably those to a “Red Priest”—into a single historical individual. references—most notably those to a “Red Priest”—into a single historical individual.
As an antiquarian and a member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, he had the opportunity to interact with the likes of William Skene.
Reeves begins with what is known about Applecross from the Irish annals. There are a total of 11 entries found in three different annals referring to 4 events; Maelrubha’s founding of a church of Apor Crosán, his death, the death of his successor, and the death of a later abbot in 797 or 801. Reeves himself points out that this is the last reference to the place in the Irish Annals. There is no mention again until the presentation of Mr. Alexander MacCloid to the bishop of Ross to grant him the collation over two chaplaincies lying below the parish church of Abilcros. This was in 1515.
The monastery of Apor Crosán, or Applecross, is lost to history. There are no records in existence. What we know of it comes from 4 events mentioned in Irish annals, the last being in the year 801. There is no mention of even the place of Apor Crosán or Applecross found in records for over 700 years. It appears then as the name of a parish church.
Reeves constructs his connection from the earls back to Applecross through several late 18th-century and 19th-century documents. He credits noted Scottish historian William F. Skene for the first suggestions regarding the O'Beollans. Skene also shared with him a passage from The Red Book of Clanranald, which Reeves refers to as MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript. It says, “Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses.”
In this passage he finds Gilpatrick Roy, or Patrick the Red, connected genealogically to the earls of Ross.
This Alexander is included in another Macdonald manuscript, the Sleat History, which Reeves calls the legendary history of the MacDonalds. From this, he gets the statement, “Alexander his son succeeded to his father's estate, and was proclaimed Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles after the accustomed manner, a man born to much trouble all his lifetime. First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus. Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”
From these two manuscripts, then, he constructs the lineage of a Patrick the Red, descended from the earls of Ross whose surname was Obeolan. He also finds a connection to St Rice or Rufus. He explains in great detail in his article that these are references to Maelrubha.
He knows, from previous research, that there is a passage in the Old Statistical Account of 1792 that says, “Close by the parish church, are the remains of an old religious house, where the standard and soles of crucifixes are still to be seen. It was richly endowed with landed property, which tradition relates to have been conveyed, by the last Popish missionary, in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross, to his daughter.”
He sees in this passage a connection between the Red Priest of Applecross and Patrick the Red of the Macdonald histories.
He also has a legend given to him by his “venerated friend the minister of Lochcarron”. It tells the dramatic story of how the lands of Applecross came to be in the hands of the Mackenzies of Coul through the daughter of the Red Priest, who is supposed to have been a MacDonald.
Reeves considers this legend to be the tradition, mention in the Old Statistical Account, that the landed property in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross was conveyed by the last Popish missionary to his daughter.
So, Reeves had in front of him,
Patrick the Red, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross
Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, an abbot, whose surname Obeolan was the surname of the Earls of Ross and had its descent of the ancient tribe of the tribe of Maelrubha
The tradition that a Popish missionary, in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross, conveyed the property to his daughter
The legend from a local mister of how the lands of Applecross came to be in the hands of the Mackenzies through the daughter of a Red Priest, who is supposed to have been a MacDonald
He equated Patrick the Red of the Macdonald genealogies with the Red Priest of legend, saying, “The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”
He then uses this surname O'Beollan to make the connection from Alba, or Scotland, back to the Irish family Ó Beolláin. This Ó Beolláin family is known to have been herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff, near Sligo. Reeves explains that Subtan, sister of Comgall, was mother of Maolrubha. Comgall may have been a disciple of St. Columba. So, Reeves finds this potential connection from Applecross, through Maelrubha, back to Columba and uses it to postulate the connection between an O'Beollan family of Applecross and the Ó Beolláin family of Drumcliff. Further, solidifying his belief that the line of the earls of Ross could be traced back to the Ó Beolláin family of Ireland. And he extends this tradition of Ó Beolláin herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff to O'Beollan herenachs of Maelrubha’s church of Applecross.
From these four sources, all produced over 800 years after the last mention of Apor Crosán in the Irish Annals, Reeves weaves his tale, saying,
There exists, indeed, a vivid tradition of an individual styled the Red Priest of Applecross, who is said to have conveyed to his daughter the rich estates with which this church was endowed, and which, down to his time, had been enjoyed by his predecessors in office.
It would seem that the office of herenach, or hereditary farmer of abbey-lands, which was originally, both in Ireland and Scotland, of a clerico-secular character, was, in the case of this church, early vested in the family of O'Beollan. They were of Irish extraction, and of the same stock as St Maelrubha, the founder, although their exact descent is forgotten. In the present instance, as in the richly-endowed churches of Dull and Glendochart in Scotland, and of Armagh and Bangor in Ireland, the secular functions of the herenach in process of time gained upon the clerical; and the transmission of the estates, which was originally by election in the founder's kin at large, became limited in direct succession, marriage on the part of the tenants being both allowed and practised. In this manner the church-lands of Applecross became an heirloom in one family, which family, namely O'Beollain, furnished the recipient of the first-created earldom of Ross.
Skene was the source of the excerpt from the Red Book of Clanranald, written circa 1700, that includes the genealogy “Patrick the Red, son of Rury, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross”. This excerpt comes from a passage dedicated to Alexander Macdonald, a descendant of Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt who became both Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross. It states that Alexander had a son by a daughter of this Patrick the Red.
Reeves also mentions the legendary history of the MacDonalds, written in the late 17th century, but not published until 1847. It also includes a section dedicated to Alexander Macdonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross. It states that, “First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”[3] Rufus being another name for Maelrubha.
Reeves thanks Skene for what he calls “the first suggestions regarding the O'Beollans”. He is not specific about the details of this suggestion, but we do know that Skene's The Highlanders of Scotland, first published in 1836, states that, “the oldest authorities concur in asserting the patronymic or Gaelic name of the earls of Ross to be O'Beolan, or descendants of Beolan.” Skene does not name these ‘oldest authorities’, but it's possible that he considered this “legendary history of the MacDonalds” one of those authorities. No other evidence is found to corroborate this connection.
We know that Reeves had access to the Statistical Accounts of Scotland. He mentions them in the opening paragraph of his original article and cites them again in this article. From the Applecross Parish entry published in the Statistical Account of 1792, he finds mention of a Red Priest of Applecross. This entry states that the parish church was richly endowed with landed property which was conveyed by the last Popish missionary to his daughter.[4]
The last piece of the puzzle is the story told to Reeves by his friend the minister of Lochcarron. The story of the Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest, who had a daughter. Legend has it that it was through her that Mackenzies of Coul came to hold the lands of Applecross.
Reeves, therefore, had this legend of a Red Priest whose daughter had the lands of Applecross. He finds in these two Macdonalds manuscripts the concubine of Alexander, the daughter of Patrick the Red, or Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red. The Macdonald history states that the surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross and connects Patrick Obeolan to the tribe of Rufus, or Maelrubha. The Book of Clanranald provided a genealogy actually connecting Patrick the Red to an unnamed son of the Earl of Ross.
In this way, Reeves drew a tenuous connection between the Fearchar, Earl of Ross, and the lands of Applecross. He then took it one step further by drawing a connection even further back to the Irish Ó Beólláin family who were herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff.
Reeves begins by saying,
“There exists, indeed, a vivid tradition of an individual styled the Red Priest of Applecross, who is said to have conveyed to his daughter the rich estates with which this church was endowed, and which, down to his time, had been enjoyed by his predecessors in office.”[5]
Of these predecessors, he says specifically,
“It would seem that the office of herenach, or hereditary farmer of abbey-lands, which was originally, both in Ireland and Scotland, of a clerico-secular character, was, in the case of this church, early vested in the family of O'Beollan. They were of Irish extraction, and of the same stock as St Maelrubha, the founder, although their exact descent is forgotten.”[5]
And,
“... In this manner the church-lands of Applecross became an heirloom in one family, which family, namely O'Beollain, furnished the recipient of the first-created earldom of Ross.”[5]
He gives us his source for these connections when he says,
“The legendary history of the MacDonalds, published by the Iona Club, states that “this surname Obeolan was the surname of the Earls of Ross, till Farquhar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had his descent from the ancient tribe of the Menapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.””[3]
Reeves did not originally set out to investigate the Earls of Ross. He was curious, instead, to know the location of the church of Apor Crosán founded by Maelrubha in 673.
His initial letter was well-received and, ten years later, Reeves presented this, much expanded, paper to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It includes, in the section dedicated to Applecross Parish, a subsection called “Abbots and Ministers”. It is here that he presents what he calls “a vivid tradition of an individual styled the Red Priest of Applecross”. Fortunately, he also provides us with all of the facts and stories that led him to the conclusion that the “office of hereditary farmer of abbey-lands was, in the case of this church, early vested in the family of O'Beollan.” And that “the church-lands of Applecross became an heirloom in one family, which family, namely O'Beollain, furnished the recipient of the first-created earldom of Ross.”
As expected, Reeves focused the bulk of his research on Maelrubha. He presents in the first half of the paper the story of Maelrubha and his ancestry along with a detailed explanation of the confusion between St. Maelrubha of Applecross and St. Ruffus of the Roman Martyrology. The second half of the paper is dedicated to the ways in which St. Maelrubha was commemorated in each of the parishes. Applecross is the only parish in which he includes an Abbots and Ministers section. It appears to be an attempt to simply round out the contents of the paper as a whole and provide an additional bit of historical context. And, unlike the well-researched majority of the paper, it appears to be just a quick side note based on information obtained from other people.
Reeves begins by saying,
“There exists, indeed, a vivid tradition of an individual styled the Red Priest of Applecross, who is said to have conveyed to his daughter the rich estates with which this church was endowed, and which, down to his time, had been enjoyed by his predecessors in office.”[5]
The Irish Annals
Everything that is known of Maelrubha's monastery at Applecross comes from entries found in three Irish Annals; the Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Tigernach, and the Annals of Ulster.
They cover Maelrubha's initial voyage to Scotland and the founding of the church beginning in 671. They end with the reporting of the death of Mac Oige of Aporcrosan in 801. There are no records in existence that were kept by the monestary itself.
671 - Maelrubha, Abbot of Beannchair, went to Alba, and founded the church of Aporcrosan.[6]
673 - Maol Ruba founded the church of Aporcrosan.[7]
673 - Máel Ruba founded the church of Apor Crosán[8]
721 - St. Maelrubha, Abbot of Beannchair, after having gone to Alba, died in his own church at Apurcrosan, on the 21st of April; eighty years, three months, and nine days, was the length of his life.[9]
721 - Mael Ruba died in Apor Crossan in the 80th year of his age.[10]
722 - Maolruba in Apurchrosan in the 80th year of his life 3 months and 29 days , on the 11th of the Kalends of Mai, the third day, rested.[11]
732 - Failbhe, son of Guaire, successor of Maelrubha, was drowned, and the crew of his ship along with him; they were twenty two in number.[12]
736 - Failbe son of Guaire, i.e. successor of Máel Ruba of Apor Crosán, was drowned in the depth of the sea together with his sailors, twenty-two in number.[13]
737 - Failbe son of Guaire, i.e. the heir of Mael Rubai Apuircrosan, was drowned in a deep open sea with his sailors to the number of 22.[14]
797 - …and Macoige, of Aporcrosain, Abbot of Beannchair, died.[15]
801 - Mac Oige of Aporcrosan, abbot of Bennchor, Muiredach son of Óchobor, abbot of Cluain Ferta Brénainn, Coscrach grandson of Fraech, abbot of Lugmad, Clemens of Tír dá Glas—all ended their lives happily and in peace.
The Macdonald Manuscripts
Sleat History
Book of Clanranald
The legendary history of the MacDonalds, published by the Iona Club
MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript
between 1660 and 1688
circa 1700
Alexander his son succeeded to his father's estate, and was proclaimed Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles after the accustomed manner, a man born to much trouble all his lifetime. First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus. Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.
Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses. He had for patrimony the third part of Lewis, and other lands upon the mainland. It is he that was killed in the parts of Garioch when along with Mac Donald, viz., Donald of Isla. For there were four that went out of the army before any part of the main force went with them, viz., Norman Macleod and Torquill his brother, Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil and Gilpatrick mac Rory. Gilpatrick mac Rory and Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil were killed, but Norman and Torquill escaped safe from the pursuit.
Book of Clanranald, MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript
From ‘MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript’, we have,
“Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses. He had for patrimony the third part of Lewis, and other lands upon the mainland. It is he that was killed in the parts of Garioch when along with Mac Donald, viz., Donald of Isla. For there were four that went out of the army before any part of the main force went with them, viz., Norman Macleod and Torquill his brother, Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil and Gilpatrick mac Rory. Gilpatrick mac Rory and Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil were killed, but Norman and Torquill escaped safe from the pursuit.”[16]
MacMhuirich is also speaking here of Alexander Macdonald, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, Gilpatrick Roy being the same man as Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red.
Reeves's entire theory hinges on this passage from a manuscript written in the 17th century and another brief passage from what he calls ‘MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript’, written just a few decades later.
Reeves translated the second passage to read,
“Alister had other children, the offspring of the daughter of Gillapatrick Roe, son of Rury, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses.”[17]
Here Reeves finds mention of what he considered a Red Priest, here actually called Gillapatrick Roe, or Patrick the Red. In a footnote, Reeves says of this passage, “For this extract, as well as for the first suggestions regarding the O'Beollans, I am indebted to my learned and ingenious friend, W. F. Skene, Esq.”
Sleat History, the legendary history of the MacDonalds
William Skene was one of the founders of the Iona Club. When they published this ‘Fragment of a Manuscript History of the Macdonalds’ in 1847, he furnished the endnotes. We know that Skene was also familiar with this ‘MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript’ because Reeves thanks him for the extract. It's entirely possible that it was Skene who first imagined a connection between the Earls of Ross and Applecross. He may have simply mentioned these sources to Reeves when he learned of his research into Maelrubha.
It's interesting, though, that Skene did not caution Reeve regarding the contents of this manuscript.
Skene himself says in the endnotes,
“The genealogical accounts of the various families contained in these MSS. is, however, frequently full of errors, principally intentional, and arising from the prejudices and active partizanship of the Sennachy, who being always devoted to one particular family, shared his patron's animosity against the Clans with whom he was at feud, and his jealousy of the other families of his own Clan, between whom there existed a rivalry. The Sennachy seldom scrupled to subserve his patron's jealousies, by perverting the history of their families, and this he, in general, accomplished either by actually perverting the genealogy, or by an extensive bastardising of the heads of the family, probably proceeding upon a principle not unknown to the present day, that a fact, however notoriously false, if perseveringly asserted for a certain length of time, will at length be received as true.”[18]
Reeves quotes from this manuscript one the passage that says,
“This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”[20]
In these two sentences, Reeves finds a connection between the surname Obeolan, Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt, first Earl of Ross of his line, and ‘St Rice or Rufus’, who he equates with Maelrubha.
Reeves chooses to include very short quotes from each of these manuscripts, but, if we we look at the larger context, from the Macdonald manuscript, thought to have been written first, we have,
“Alexander his son succeeded to his father's estate, and was proclaimed Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles after the accustomed manner, a man born to much trouble all his lifetime. First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus. Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”[20]
We also see here mention of the Manapii, as it is spelled in the original publishing of the Macdonald manuscript by the Iona Club. The name of the tribe in Reeves's paper, as it is printed by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is spelled Menapii. The Menapii were a Belgic tribe from mainland Europe. The Manapii were an Irish tribe thought, potentially, to be descended from the Menapii.
It is from this statement that Reeves gets the idea that “the family of O'Beollan were of Irish extraction and of the same stock as St Maelrubha.”
Again, we have to ask ourselves, though, what is the basis for this claim that this Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii?
Ronald Black, in his in-depth analysis of the 1467 manuscript, says, “In a vague and stuttering way, Hugh MacDonald is pointing us towards Applecross, though once again Applecross is not mentioned.”[21]
Was there a benefit to the Macdonalds to be connected to Applecross?
Was there motive, at this point, then, for these families, the Rosses and the Macdonalds, to assert their relationship with the original earls? Why is it that no mention of a surname is found before the early 17th century?
Rev. Scott has a similar take, saying,
“Dr. Reeves identified Sagart Ruadh with a certain Gilla-Patrick the Red, a reputed ancestor of certain Ross-shire lairds. These Ross-shire lairds, however, claimed descent not only from Gilla-Patrick the Red, but from Maolrubha or Sagart Ruadh himself. This claim we can quite understand and explain when we remember that those who made it held Maolrubha's lands of Applecross, to which they had to profess some sort of title.”[22]
He says of these ‘Ross-shire lairds’,
“I understand that two of the families concerned did not thank Dr. Reeves for his laboured attempt to identify the Sagart Ruadh with Gilla-Patrick the Red. If Dr. Reeves had been correct the origin of these families would have been put about 500 years later than is reputed.”[22]
He goes on to say,
“A Sutherland family also claimed descent from Maolrubha. While the Ross-shire lairds claim through a daughter, the Sutherland laird claimed through a son. Needless to add, the Sutherland laird also held land belonging to a church of Maolrubha.”[22]
As we will see, this Gilla-Patrick the Red also comes from this, and another, Macdonald manuscript.
Do we have reason, then, to question claims made by the Macdonalds, and maybe even the Sutherlands, regarding the surname of the Earls and any ancestry that connects to them or to Maelrubha?
Even if we could prove that they were both descendants of this tribe, the connection is in no way an indication of a familial or patrilineal relationship between Maelrubha and Patrick Obeolan. The Manapii were first mentioned by Greek geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD. In the 500 years between Ptolemy and Maelrubha there could be many, many descendants of this tribe. And in the 700 years between Maelrubha and Patrick the Red, there could be many, many more descendants of this tribe.
We see that Reeves seems to have interpreted this passage from the Macdonald manuscript as, “This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient Irish tribe; of this tribe is also Maelrubha.” And from this, he found a connection to Applecross, gleaning from it, somehow, confirmation that the surname of the Earls of Ross was once Obeolan and that they could trace their lineage back to Applecross.
Patrick the Red and the Macdonalds
These manuscripts, both apparently commissioned by the Macdonalds, contain genealogies of Macdonald branches, including the branch that once held the title of Earl of Ross. Both were also written during a time that the title of Earl of Ross was vacant, Charles I of England being that last to hold it. Both attempt to draw a connection from the Macdonalds back to the ancient Earls of Ross, which may be to their benefit if they were attempting to reclaim that title.
Neither of these manuscripts mention Applecross specifically. The Macdonald manuscript does, however, say that, “This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”
What Reeves neglects to include in his quoting of the Macdonald seanchaí is the statement that,
“Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”
MacVurrich's repeats this by saying,
“He had for patrimony the third part of Lewis, and other lands upon the mainland.”
Green Abbot
We also see in the MacVurrich's Red Book the pedigree that led Reeves back to an Earl of Ross, ‘Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross’.
We have, in the 1467 manuscript, a pedigree for a Green Abbot. In his in-depth analysis of this pedigree, Ronald Black concludes that the Green Abbot’s kindred were the Morrisons of Ness, that their origins were at Aberuthven in Strathearn.[23]
map
He also concludes that Patrick the Red, or Gilpatrick Roy, was probably abbot of Bragar, on the west coast of Lewis, seven miles from Carloway, or Carlebay.[24]
Black says of the Earl of Ross connection,
“It may be that the fall of the Nicolsons meant the rise of the Green Abbot, for MacMhuirich tells us that Patrick was ‘son of Ruairi, son of the Green Abbot, son of the earl of Ross’ and that ‘his pedigree was from the men of Ross’, while MacDonald gives Patrick’s surname as Obeolan, which was also, he says, the surname of the earls of Ross. It is difficult to know what to make of this, but if MacDonald’s account came first (which appears to be the case) he seems to be saying that Patrick and the earl shared a common surname, and MacMhuirich deduces from this, quite wrongly, that the Green Abbot was a son of the earl of Ross. There is no Beollán in our pedigree, and the Green Abbot was certainly not a son of the earl of Ross, so all that we can say is that by Patrick’s time a myth appears to have grown up in Lewis that the Green Abbot and the old earls of Ross were of the same stock.”[25]
Old Statistical Account
In 1849, he wrote a letter to the Irish Ecclesiastical Journal that begins, “Dear Sir, There is a parish in Scotland with the early history of which the statistical writers of that country seem to have been hitherto unacquainted.” He then presents his conclusion that the remains of an old religious house near the parish church in Applecross were those of Máel Ruba's monastery.[26]
Rev. John McQueen of Applecross Parish was one of these these “statistical writers”. In his entry for Applecross published in the Statistical Account of 1792, McQueen wrote,
“Close by the parish church, are the remains of an old religious house, where the standard and soles of crucifixes are still to be seen. It was richly endowed with landed property, which tradition relates to have been conveyed, by the last Popish missionary, in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross, to his daughter.”[4]
It was these ‘remains of an old religious house’ in Applecross Parish that Reeves determined to be the site of Maelrubha's monastery. It is this Red Priest of Applecross .
Minister of Lochcarron
Irish family Ó Beólláin
The “Red Priest” in the Clanranald Tradition
The Sleat History and the Red Priest
The Old Statistical Account and Local Tradition
Lochcarron Tradition and the Problem of Conflation
He says,
“The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”
Archibald Scott’s Critique
Of this, Rev. Archibald Scott says, “Dr. Reeves was unintentionally misled by information supplied by Dr. Skene. He was also further misled by some folk-gossip collected and supplied to him by the minister of Lochcarron.”[22]
The Historical Record for Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt
The Question of O’Beóllain
As an antiquarian and Bishop of the Church of Ireland, Reeves was also in a position to be familiar with the Irish Ó Beólláin family who were herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff, near Sligo.[27] In fact, he cites several times his paper on St. Columba and mentions that St Comgall, an associate, or possibly disciple, of Columba, was closely related to Maelrubha through his mother.[28]
Farquar, or Fearchar, was the first earl of the family of earls who later adopted the surname Ross. As Reeves points out, he appears in an entry recorded in the Chronicle of Melrose in 1215, referred to only as Mac-an-tsagairt.[29] The last of his male to hold the title Earl of Ross was William, 5th Earl of Ross who died in 1372.[30] The title then fell into the female line.
There is no evidence of a surname found in original documents of this time.
“Of this Farqr discendit fyve erlis, being Ross of surname, viȝt Farqr the first, Williame the second, Williame the third, Hew the fourt, and William the fift;”[31]
“the laird of Balnagown his surname should not be Rosse, seing ther wes never any Earle of Rosse of that surname; bot the Earles of Rosse wer first of the surname of Builton,”[32]
And then we have, sometime between 1660 and 1688, this Macdonald seanchaí writing,
“This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue.”
How is it known that “this surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross”? Was this common knowledge that was just never recorded? Is it true, as has been said, that the surname of Builton is the Anglicized version of Obeolan? If this is the case, why is there no other mention of it? And why would the Balnagown manuscript make a point to say that “of this Farqr descended five earls, being Ross of surname”?
The Macdonald seanchaí says also,
“This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”
Reeves goes into great detail in this paper about the confusion between St. Maelrubha and the Roman St. Rufus of Capua. In this instance, though, he seems to equate ‘St. Rufus’ with Maelrubha. He says elsewhere in the paper, “it may be mentioned that an island off Applecross, now called Croulin Beg, was formerly styled St Ruphus's Island, and that in a native authority our saint is called “St Rice or Rufus.” In the case of three or four other churches, the patron St Rufus seems to be none other than our Maelrubha.”
Could the Macdonald manuscript be the “native authority” he is referring to?
The Mackenzies
DNA evidence
It seems that McQueen's passage in the Statistical Accounts may have been the inspiration for parts of this statement.
He then says that,
“The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”[33]
In a footnote, Reeves thanks notable Scottish historian William Forbes Skene “for the first suggestions regarding the O'Beollans”.[33]
Of this, Rev. Archibald Scott says, “Dr. Reeves was unintentionally misled by information supplied by Dr. Skene. He was also further misled by some folk-gossip collected and supplied to him by the minister of Lochcarron.”[22]
According to Rev. Scott, the Saint known as Maolrubha was also known as Sagart Ruadh and both of these names mean the Red Priest.[34][35] Rev. Scott says specifically, “Dr. Reeves, at the outset of his inquiries, prevented himself from recognising that ‘Sagart Ruadh’ is the later Gaelic-speaking people's variant of the Saint's name.”[22] He also says, “The two names misled some of the Roman Catholic writers, and even so great an authority as Dr. Reeves, into supposing that Maolrubha and Sagart Ruadh were different persons.”[34]
And, indeed, we see that, instead of reading McQueen's passage as “the place that was once known to be Maelrubha's monastery”, Reeves assumed the Red Priest of Applecross to be a separate person, the last of the Popish missionaries (Catholics) who conveyed to his daughter the rich estates with which this church was endowed. He then equated this separate Red Priest of Applecross with both Gilla Patrick O'Beollan and the Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest, of Lochcarron's ‘folk-gossip’.
Reeves also thanks William Skene for a passage he shared.
Chlann eile ag Alasdair iodhon tutsudion
inghean Ghille Phadrig Ruaidh mic Raighre mic an Aba Uaine
mhic Iarla Rois do na Rosachadh a shloinneadh:
This passage is found in what Reeves calls ‘MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript’, or the Red Book. This is the passage he uses to draw a connection between this particular 'Red Priest' and the Earls of Ross, saying,
“In MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript he is styled Giolapadruig Ruaidh, son of Rury, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross”[33]
This manuscript was written sometime in the early 18th century, so some 4 centuries after the death of the last Earls of Ross. Niall MacMhuirich was a member of the MacMhuirich bardic family. The family was, at first, chiefly employed by the Macdonald Lords of the Isles, but, after the fall of the Lordship of the Isles in the 15th century, came to be in the employ of the chiefs of the MacDonalds of Clanranald. The Red Book is comprised mainly of an account of the history of Clan Donald.
Reeves's conclusion was that McQueen's Red Priest of Applecross was the last Popish missionary who conveyed to his daughter the rich estates with which the church was endowed. He also concluded that this Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan. We've already seen, though, that Rev. Scott's opinion was that, when McQueen mentioned the Red Priest of Applecross, he was referring to Maelrubha himself. And now we have Ronald Black's opinion that Gilla Patrick Roy, or Patrick the Red, was probably abbot of Bragar, on the west coast of Lewis, seven miles from Carloway, or Carlebay.
If it is the case that ‘Giolapadruig Ruaidh, son of Rury, son of the Green Abbot,’ or Patrick the Red, was abbot of Bragar, not abbot of Applecross, and if the Green Abbot’s kindred were the Morrisons of Ness, not the Earls of Ross, why is it that the Macdonald seanchaí called him ‘Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red’? And why would he say that, “This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”
Returning to the Macdonald manuscript, we next have the line, “This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus.”
Reeves then supplies this ‘vivid tradition’ as conveyed to him by the minister of Lochcarron.
“The Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest, was married, and had by his wife an only child, a female, who was early betrothed to a son of the laird of Coul. The Priest is supposed to have been a MacDonald. The girl in process of time grew to maturity, when several neighbouring lairds strove to win her affections. Among others, Mackenzie of Gairloch, who attempted abduction, but paid dearly for his desperate experiment. He came by sea with a band of daring men, whom he landed on the shore below the manse; and while he remained with a single companion in the boat, they proceeded under cover of night to execute his orders. It would seem that the Red Priest had previously obtained some secret information of their intentions, and was prepared for their reception. So he invited them into his house, and received them with seeming hospitality; but, in the middle of the entertainment, a body of men who were lying in wait, upon a given signal, rushed in and slew all the guests. From the banquet-room they hastened to the shore, and there finding the laird, with his attendant, they put them, in like manner, to death. All their bodies were buried in Applecross churchyard. After this catastrophe a MacDonald paid his addresses to the damsel, and was accepted, which so exasperated the Mackenzies of Coul, that they came, demanded the lady for their chief, and succeeded in scattering the MacDonnells, on whose withdrawal the lady was surrendered to them, and with her the lands of Applecross.”[36]
Reeves then provides what the calls ‘another version of the story’, also involving a Red Priest who was a MacDonald and the last of the family who was proprietor of these lands.
Reeves believed that this Red Priest of Lochcarron's legend was the Red Priest of Applecross, the end of a long line of predecessors who enjoyed the rich estates with which this church was endowed.
And, as he adds, “Thus, as the story goes, these lands came into the family of Mackenzie, with whom they remained till the other day.”
From these few pieces of information then, Reeves has a story of a Red Priest, a MacDonald, in possession of the lands of Applecross. And the daughter of this Red Priest, through whom the lands of Applecross came to be in the possession of the Mackenzies.
We do know that these lands did come to be in the hands of the Mackenzies.
Cosmo Innes states in Origines parochiales that, “in 1569 the same Kenzeoch was heir in remainder to the chapel lands of Apilcroce, then granted by Sir William Stewart the chaplain to Rory Makkangze and his heirs male.”[37] He cites Reg. Sec. Sig., vol. xxxviii. fol. 119. He says later, “In 1569 King James VI. confirmed a grant made by Sir William Stewart chaplain of Apilcroce, with the consent of John bishop of Ross, the dean, and the canons, to Rory Makkangze and his heirs male, with remainder to Kenzeoch M'Kangze of Kintaill and his male heirs whomsoever bearing his arms and surname, of half of the lands of Bonnadell, Longoll and Achechork, Kippech, Satrell and Drumloy, Cowlmoir, Corchirie, Coulnakill, Ardestang, Scheildag, Dybege, Rischill, and Lestang, in the earldom of Ross and sheriffdom of Innernes, which belonged to Sir William as the patrimony of the chaplainry.”[38] And again cites Reg. Sec. Sig., vol. xxxviii. fol. 119.
Reeves also includes the text of this document in the 'Appendix' section of this paper.
Precept of the Charter of Confirmation on the charter of fief made by Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, under the diocese of Ross, with the express consent and assent of John, Bishop of Ross, and the Dean and Canons of the cathedral church of Ross, capitularly gathered to Rorio Makkangze and his male heirs, legitimately begotten or to be begotten of his body. to the conveyance of Kenzeoch McKangze of Kintaill and his heirs male to whomever bear the arms and surname of the said Kanzeocht and to their assigns to whomsoever of all and singular lands underwritten, viz. half the lands of Bounadell half the lands of Longoll and Athechork half the lands of Kippeche half the lands of Satrell and Drumloy half the lands of Corlmvir half the lands of Corchirie half the lands of Coulnakill half the lands of Ardestaig half the lands of Scheildaig half the lands of Dybege half the lands of Rischill half the lands of Lestang, lying in the county of Rossense and the sheriffdom of Inuerness to the said lord William as the patrimony and property of the said chaplaincy To be held of the said lord William and his successors at Edenburght on the twenty-second day of the month of April in the year of the Lord, etc., lxix.[39]
The chapel lands of Apilcroce circa 1569.
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So, the lands of Applecross, at this point, included Bonnadell, Longoll and Achechork, Kippech, Satrell and Drumloy, Cowlmoir, Corchirie, Coulnakill, Ardestang, Scheildag, Dybege, Rischill, and Lestang. And one of the two chaplains of Applecross, with consent of the church, transferred to the Mackenzies his half of these lands.
The locations of some of these lands are lost to history. From what we do know, we can see that this was a very large area, covering the entire peninsula. This agrees with Reeves's statement, “That in after-times the lands of Applecross, in a radius of six miles from the saint's church, enjoyed the rights of sanctuary and immunity.”[40]
This transaction is an example of the diminishing power of the church prior to the Scottish Reformation which led to the transfer of church property into the hands of powerful nobles.[42]
This also places Lochcarron's legend sometime around the year 1569. It, however, does not conform to the narrative of Lochcarron's legend. Mr. William Stewart, as far as we know, was not a Red Priest of Applecross. He was also not a MacDonald. In the second version of the story that Reeves includes, the MacRuries were first to obtain the estate, but the papers fell into the hands of the Mackenzies, but that his clearly not the case.
In the first version of the legend, Loccharron mentions Mackenzie of Gairloch, who “paid dearly” for attempting to abduct the Red Priest's daughter. It is then the Mackenzies of Coul who demand the lady for their chief and, with her, the lands of Applecross.
According to historian Alexander Mackenzie, the Mackenzies obtained the Barony of Gairloch in the late 15th century.[43] About the time of Lochcarron's legend, the lands changed hands several times between the sons of John Glassich Mackenzie. Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch died in 1566. Alexander died a few weeks after he succeeded his brother.[44] Mackenzie takes from an old family manuscript that the brothers were killed probably in the same manner as their father and uncles, by the Mackenzies of Kintail.[45]
The Mackenzies of Coul, however, were not contemporary with these brothers. Alexander Mackenzie of Applecross and 1st of Coul was the grandson of Roderick Mackenzie, 2nd of Davochmaluag, and Kenneth Mackenzie, 10th of Kintail, the men actually named in the Precept of the Charter of Confirmation of 1569.
Either way, there may be some truth to Lochcarron's claim that the first Mackenzie to possess the lands of Apilcroce was married to the daughter of a Macdonald. This Macdonald, however, was not the Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest. He was, instead, chief of Clan Macdonald of Sleat.
Regardless, this mention of a Macdonald appears to be the clue that led Reeves to what he calls the “legendary history of the MacDonalds, published by the Iona Club”. Or maybe this was the ‘suggestion regarding the O'Beollans’ that was made by William Skene.
This Macdonald manuscript was written by a Highlandsennachie sometime during the reigns of Charles II and James II of England, so between 1660 and 1688[50], so a century after the transfer of the lands of Applecross by the church to the Mackenzies. The Iona Club published a transcription of a 'fragment' of a copy of the document for the first time in 1847, just before Reeves sent his letter to the Irish Ecclesiastical Journal.
“Alexander his son succeeded to his father's estate, and was proclaimed Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles after the accustomed manner, a man born to much trouble all his lifetime. First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus. Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”[20]
Reeves finds here an abbot named Patrick the Red. The daughter of this Patrick the Red is said here to have been a concubine of Alexander Macdonald, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles. This Alexander is known to have died in 1449. This places Patrick the Red in the early 15th century, a century before the transfer of the lands of Applecross by the church to the Mackenzies. Nevertheless, Reeves equates this Patrick the Red with the Red Priest of Applecross of the Statistical Accounts and Lochcarron's legend.
He says,
“The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”
There are several issues with this sentence.
First, according to this manuscript, the only known source to suggest this relationship between Alexander and the daughter of Patrick Obeolan, Alexander was Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles. Reeves calls him here ‘Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh’. Alexander of the Isles of Lochalsh, also called Alexander of the Isles, lord of Lochalsh, was actually the grandson of Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles.[51][52]
Family tree of Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, from Acts of the lords of the Isles.
Celestine de Insulis was the son of Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, and father of Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh. Reeves claims that the daughter of Patrick the Red was the mother of Celestine de Insulis. This same manuscript, however, claims that the daughter of Patrick the Red was the mother of Celestine's brother Hugh, 1st of Sleat.
According to MacPhail, Celestine is misplaced by the sennachie and listed as the son of Alexander's son John and MacDuffee of Colonsay's daughter.[53]
In what Reeves calls MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript, also known as the Books of Clanrananld, we find Celestine, called here Gillespie.
“Gillespie, son of Alexander of Isla, whose mother was daughter of Mac Phee of Lochaber, and Alexander, son of Gillespie, who obtained possession of the earldom of Ross, and Donald, his son, died without issue.”[16]
Skene agrees that Celestine was the son of a daughter of Mac Dubhshithe or Macphee, of Lochaber.
Reeves is the only one to name Celestine as the son of the daughter of Patrick the Red. This appears to be another misinterpretation of the information provided him by Skene. Additionally, there is evidence that suggests that Celestine was also a legitimate son, not the son of an unnamed concubine.[54][55][56]
Unfortunately, unlike all of the other documents referenced in this paper, Reeves does not provide a citation for this Celestine de Insulis charter of 1467 in which “these lands are included”.
We find, dated April 25, 1467, a charter by John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, with the consent of his council to his brother Celestine of the Isles of Lochalsh, sheriff of Inverness, of the lands of Strathhalladale in the earldom of Caithness, sheriffdom of Inverness.[57]
This is the only charter that has been located pertaining to Celestine de Insulis and dated 1467. This document does not include the lands of Applecross. It is speaking instead of the lands of Strath Halladale in Caithness, or Sutherland; Sutherland being on the opposite coast of Scotland.
There are several other charters found involving Celestine.
February 2, 1463 - Charter by John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, with the consent of his council to Celestine his brother and his heirs by Finvola, daughter of Lachlan MacLean of Duart, whom failing to any lawful heirs of Celestine by any other wife, of the lands of Lochbroom, Lochalsh, Lochcarron, Torridon and Kishorn, in the earldom of Ross and sheriffdom of Inverness.[58]
November 8, 1463 - Charter by John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, with the consent of his council to Celestine of the Isles his natural brother and his heirs male by Finvola, daughter of Lachlan MacLean of Duart, whom failing to heirs male of Celestine by any other wife, of the lands of Sleat in the lordship of the Isles.[59]
January 10, 1464 - Charter by John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, with the consent of his council to Celestine his natural brother and his heirs by Finvola daughter of Lachlan MacLean of Duart, whom failing to the heirs of Celestine by any other wife of the lands of Ferincoskry, namely Creich, Spinningdale, Acharry, Fload, and Pulrossie in the earldom of Sutherland and sheriffdom of Inverness.[60]
November 7, 1464 - Note of a charter by John, earl of Ross, to Celestine of the lands of Glenloy, Strone (?), and Locharkaig.[61]
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This charter of February 2, 1463, includes the lands of Lochbroom, Lochalsh, Lochcarron, Torridon and Kishorn. Lochalsh and Lochcarron, “and others”, were the lands that Skene claims Alexander, Earl of Ross, obtained from Patrick the Red's daughter. If Reeves got his information from Skene, this must have been the transaction that Skene informed him of.
If we look at the map of parish boundaries prior to 1891, Lochbroom Parish was to the northeast of Applecross Parish, just on the other side of Gairloch Parish. Lochcarron Parish was just to the southeast of Applecross Parish. Lochalsh Parish was just to the south of Applecross Peninsula and Lochcarron Parish. Loch Torridon was between the Applecross Peninsula and Lochbroom Parish and Loch Kishorn was between Applecross Peninsula and Lochcarron Parish. Origines parochiales, published in 1854, says of Applecross, “This parish, chiefly mountainous, lies between the salt-water lochs named Loch Kishorn and Loch Torridon, and includes three districts, Kishorn, Applecross, and Lochs.”[62]
It appears that this charter includes the lands surrounding the area that was once Maelrubha's monastery, but not the lands that would be considered Apilcroce. As Reeves states, legend has it that the sanctuary of Maelrubha's monastery extended 6 miles in all directions.[63] The monastery itself was at the mouth of the river Crossan. A 6-mile radius would encompass most of the peninsula. This would include what became the Applecross district. These lands do not appear to be included in the charter.
In fact, in 1546, when Angus Yla, son of Alexander Macdonald 6th of Glengarry,[64] granted the lands of Ernsay to Robert Munro of Fowlis, he was lord of half the lands of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and Lochbroom, and patron of the chaiplainry of Obsdale.[65]
Again, the charter of 1569 made by the chaplain of Apilcroce, William Stewart, to Roderick Mackenzie indicates that the lands of Apilcroce were church lands at that point. Not in the possession of the Macdonalds.
Skene may have said it more accurately in his Celtic Scotland, published several decades later.
“By the daughter of Giollapadraig, the last of the lay abbots of Applecross, and known to tradition as the Red Priest, with whom he obtained the lands of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and others, he had a son Hugh, to whom he gave the lands of Sleat in Skye ; and by a daughter of Mac Dubhshithe or Macphee, of Lochaber, he had Celestine or Gilleaspic, to whom he gave the lands of Lochalsh.”[66]
Skene is speaking here of the only Alexander Macdonald to be earl of Ross. This is the same Alexander that the Macdonald history says “took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red”, Giollapadraig being the Gaelic form of Patrick the Red.
Reeves, however, confuses him with Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh. These were two different men. Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, was the father of Celestine de Insulis. And Celestine was the father of Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, therefore, was the grandson of Alexander, Earl of Ross.
who was of a surname that had its descent from the tribe of St. Rufus.
Reeves goes into great detail in this paper about the confusion between St. Maelrubha and the Roman St. Rufus of Capua. In this instance, though, he equates St. Rufus with Maelrubha. It's interesting that he chose to do so. The name of the tribe in Reeves's paper, as it is printed by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is Menapii. The name in Macdonald's manuscript, as it is printed by the Iona Club, is Manapii. The Menapii were a Belgic tribe from mainland Europe. The Manapii were an Irish tribe thought, potentially, to be descended from the Menapii. If Reeves understood this word to mean the Irish tribe, we see why he could've associated this St. Rufus with Ireland. But we don't know that he did.
There is also this idea that the Manapii were first mentioned by Greek geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD. In the 500 years between Ptolemy and Maelrubha there could be many, many descendants of this tribe. And in the 700 years between Maelrubha and Patrick the Red, there could be many, many more descendants of this tribe. This connection is in no way an indication of a familial or patrilineal relationship between Maelrubha and Patrick the Red.
Additionally, there is the question of the basis for the claim that this Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii. On whose authority does he have this information? Is there any possible ulterior motive for making this claim? Or the claim that Patrick's name was Obeolan? Or that this surname Obeolan was the surname of the Earls of Ross?
In his first note found at the end of the transcription of the fragment, William Skene states:
“The genealogical accounts of the various families contained in these MSS. is, however, frequently full of errors, principally intentional, and arising from the prejudices and active partizanship of the Sennachy, who being always devoted to one particular family, shared his patron's animosity against the Clans with whom he was at feud, and his jealousy of the other families of his own Clan, between whom there existed a rivalry. The Sennachy seldom scrupled to subserve his patron's jealousies, by perverting the history of their families, and this he, in general, accomplished either by actually perverting the genealogy, or by an extensive bastardising of the heads of the family, probably proceeding upon a principle not unknown to the present day, that a fact, however notoriously false, if perseveringly asserted for a certain length of time, will at length be received as true.”[18]
He points out that the writer of this particular manuscript was a staunch adherent of the Sleat family. According to this manuscript, Hugh, the 1st of the Sleat family, “who was called Austin, or, as others say, Augustine,” was the son that Patrick the Red's daughter bore to Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross.[67] The use here of Austin for Uisdean or Hugh is one of many instances in which classical names are utilized to represent Gaelic names of a somewhat similar sound.[68]
This family later professed themselves to be rightful heirs to both the Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross once possessed by this Alexander.[47] Is it possible, then, that this sennachie saw a benefit in claiming a connection between this family of Sleat and the original Earls of Ross?
If Hugh Macdonald, 1st of Sleat, was the son of Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, and a daughter of Patrick Obeolan, whose surname was that of the Earls of Ross, could he then claim rights to the Earldom through both of his parents?
Rev. Scott also points out that Gilla-Patrick the Red was a “reputed ancestor of certain Ross-shire lairds”. He says, “These Ross-shire lairds, however, claimed descent not only from Gilla-Patrick the Red, but from Maolrubha or Sagart Ruadh himself. This claim we can quite understand and explain when we remember that those who made it held Maolrubha's lands of Applecross, to which they had to profess some sort of title.”[22]
No evidence is found in contemporary documents that would suggest this maternal relationship between the first Macdonalds of Sleat and a descendant of the Mac an t-Sagairt Earls of Ross. In fact, in a later printing of the manuscript, next to the sentence claiming that Patrick the Red's daughter bore a son to Alexander, is a margin note that states, “That this is false can be proven from a charter granted by his father to Austin [Hugh], wherein is mentioned that the Earl of Huntly's daughter was her [sic] mother, who was likewise married to Alexander.”[68]
The details of this charter are not shared, but later researchers have supplied us with evidence that suggests that Hugh was a legitimate son, not the child of a concubine.[55][56][52]
MacPhail, editor of this second printing, points out that the sennachie, called by him Hugh Macdonald, confuses Alexander's wife with that of his son.[69] After telling us that Patrick's daughter was twice brought before the king, the sennachie says that Alexander was persuaded to marry Margaret Livingston, daughter to Sir Alexander Livingston.[67] Other sources claim that Alexander's wife's name was Elizabeth and that she was most likely the daughter of Alexander Seton, lord of Gordon and Huntly.[70] Her name also may have been Haliburton.[71] It was his son, John, who married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lord Livingstone.[72] Is it possible, then, that he was also confused about Hugh being the son of the daughter of Patrick the Red?
Regardless of the credibility of the claims made in the manuscript, Reeves finds in Patrick the Red the Sagart Ruadh he was looking for.
He goes so far as to say,
“The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”
This connection was either supported or suggested by Skene as Reeves thanks him in a footnote.[73]
It does seem that Reeves may have received information from someone else and gotten a few of the details confused.
The earliest mention of Apilcroce in post-Viking times is found on November 23, 1515. It is the presentation of Mr. Alexander Maccloid, directed to the bishop of Ross, to grant him the collation of Mr. Alexander over two chaplaincies lying and founded below the parish church of Abilcros under the diocese of Ross, when they happen to be vacant by the death or incapacity of Mr. Murdac and Mr. Cristini, the chaplains and now possessors of the same.[74] We can see from this that there were two chaplaincies founded below the parish church of Abilcros. They were at this point already in the possession of Mr. Murdac and Mr. Cristini indicating that these chaplaincies were established prior to 1515.
We then have, between the years 1515 and 1561, a series of presentations to the chaplaincy of Apilcroce. Reeves also incudes transcriptions of many of these documents in his appendix.
The chapel lands of Apilcroce circa 1569
In 1569, this chaplaincy was in possession of what Innes calls the “chapel lands of Apilcroce”, Bonnadell, Longoll and Achechork, Kippech, Satrell and Drumloy, Cowlmoir, Corchirie, Coulnakill, Ardestang, Scheildag, Dybege, Rischill, and Lestang. Only two of them, Ardheslaig and Shieldaig, are found listed in Applecross Parish in Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty,[75] but several can be found on a map drawn in 1826.[76] The chapel lands of Apilcroce appear to have encompassed the entirety of the peninsula.
The first document we find cataloged by the National Records of Scotland is a charter by David [Lindsay], bishop of Ross, to Kenneth McKenzie of Kintaill of the kirklands of Cullicudden, Farnes Wester, Culboll, Wodheid, and many other subjects; with the patronage of the parish churches and parishes of Kintaill, Lochaillche, Lochcarrone, Apilcroce, Garloch, Lochbrume, and Assint; also the office of heritable constable of the castle of Ross, dated August 15, 1607.[77]
The next document we find cataloged is an Instrument of Sasine in favour of Agnes Fraser, second daughter of Hugh Fraser of Belladrome, and spouse of John McKenzie, apparent of Applecroce, of lands and towns of Kylburrie, Calnakill, Ardteaschlack, Schealdack, and the scheilling of Scammadill, in barony of Applecroce and sheriffdom of Innernes, in liferent, following on charter by said John McKenzie and Alexander McKenzie of Coull, his grandfather, dated 6th February 1649.[78]
In the History of the Mackenzies, Alexander Mackenzie claims that Alexander Mackenzie of Coul had “sasine of half the lands of Applecross and others, as a “natural son of Colin Mackenzie of Kintail,” dated 10th of March, 1582.”[46] This Alexander was grandson of both Rory of Davochmaluag and Kenneth of Kintail.
So, the story told by the documents of how the lands came to be in the family of Mackenzie begins with this grant by Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, in 1569. We have afterwards a chain of ownership from Roderick Mackenzie, 2nd of Davochmaluag to his great-great-grandson John Mackenzie, 2nd of Applecross. This, therefore, would date the minister of Lochcarron's legend to around 1569.
Agnes Fraser daughter of Hugh Fraser of Belladrome
According to the minister of Lochcarron, the Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest, was supposed to have been a MacDonald and the lands of Applecross went with his daughter to the Mackenzies of Coul.
We see that it was actually Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, who transferred the lands of Apilcroce to Roderick Mackenzie, 2nd of Davochmaluag. This family didn't carry the name of Coul until several generations later.
As Reeves himself states, though, the obit of Mac Oige of Aporcrosan in 801 “is the last reference to the place in the Irish Annals, and, it may be said, in all existing records, until it makes its appearance as “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros.””[5]
This reference that Reeves makes to “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros” comes from the Presentation of Murdoch Johnnestoun to the parsonage and vicarage of Apilcroce, a common kirk of the bishopric of Ross, in the sheriffdom of Inverness, dated August 4, 1575.[80] But we know, based on documents that he includes in this paper, prior to being a common kirk, or church, it was a chaplaincy.
These chaplaincies were founded under the parish church of Apilcroce in the diocese of Ross. This would've been a Catholic diocese. During the Scottish Reformation, Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed the Church of Scotland. It would probably have been after the Scottish Reformation Parliament of 1560 that the chaplaincy in the diocese of Ross became, or began to be referred to as, “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros”. Would this mean, then, that Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, who granted to Roderick Mackenzie half the lands of Apilcroce in 1569, was the “last of the Popish missionaries” mentioned by Rev. McQueen in the Old Statistical Account? We see in the letter dated 1576, after his death, Sir William Stewart is called “the last possessor thereof”. Kenneth Mackenzie, son of Alexander Mackenzie of Kilchrist, is then disponed the chaplainry of Apilcroce.[81]
It's interesting that, when Reeves wrote his original letter in 1849, it was met with the response that, “Previously to that date, nothing had been done towards the identification of St Maelrubha or his church of Apercrossan; and in his note on the passage of the Four Masters at 671, which makes mention of them, the learned Dr O'Donovan declared his inability to ascertain the modern name of the saint's church in Scotland.”[82]
In these 16th-century documents that Reeves includes, there is mention specifically of the chaplaincy of the chapel of Saint Malrube in Apilcroce. This would indicate that knowledge of Maelrubha's association with the area had been handed down, even during the time of Viking occupation.[83][84][85] Why it was not known to scholars in the 19th century is unclear.
15th century chapel, Applecross
There are, standing today, near what is thought to be the original location of Maelrubha's monastery, the remnants of a chapel said to have been founded in the 15th century.[86] Could this be “the remains of an old religious houſe” mentioned by Rev. McQueen in the Old Statistical Account? Could it be that this is the chapel of the chaplaincy called specifically the chaplaincy of the chapel of Saint Malrube in Apilcroce? Could this have been the point at which these chaplaincies were established following a long period of Norse occupation and then several centuries of recovery? There are no documents in existence today that tell the story.
If the lands were in the possession of the Macdonalds in 1467, we have no way of knowing how this happened or how they then came to be property of the church 100 years later.
What we can say is that this idea that Celestine Macdonald was the grandson of Patrick the Red and that he inherited the lands of Apilcroce in or around 1467 diverges greatly from Lochcarron's legend. The legend tells us that the lands came into the hands of the Mackenzies through the daughter of the Red Priest. While there doesn't seem to have been a Red Priest involved, we do have existing documents proving that the Mackenzies did actually obtain the lands from the chaplaincy in 1569.
In both versions of Lochcarron's legend, “The Priest is supposed to have been a MacDonald.” If we take the story as told by the documents, the Macdonald would be Donald Macdonald of Sleat who died in 1539.[87] He was, however, not a priest or an abbot. And we know that during his lifetime, the lands of Apilcroce belonged to the chaplaincy of Apilcroce.
In the story told in this paper by Reeves, the Red Priest was a Patrick O'Beollan, also called Patrick the Red, not a Macdonald. The Macdonald manuscript says that, “This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue.”[20]
Reeves then finds in MacVurrich's Gaelic manuscript, written not long after the Macdonald manuscript, a pedigree for this Patrick the Red, or called here, Gilpatrick Roy.
“Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses.”[16]
As Reeves diagrams in the paper:
Iarla Rois
Earl of Ross
Abb Uaine
the Green Abbot
Ruaidri
Rory
Giollapadraig Ruaid
Gilpatrick Roy or Patrick the Red
Because, in his mind, Patrick the Red, or O'Beollan, was “the laſt Popiſh miſsionary, in the place known by the deſignation of the Red Prieſt of Applecroſs,” Reeves was now able to draw a connection between Maelrubha's monastery at Aporcrosan and the Earls of Ross, who he thought to also be O'Beollans.
He then draws a connection further back to the Irish Ó Beólláin family who were herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff, near Sligo.[88] The fact that Columba was known to have been a mentor or associate of Maelrubha's great-uncle Comgall[28] seemed to further reinforce for Reeves the idea of a connection between the Ó Beólláins of Columba's church in Ireland and an Obeolan of Maelrubha's church in Scotland.
This would lead him to state that, “It would seem that the office of herenach, or hereditary farmer of abbey-lands, which was originally, both in Ireland and Scotland, of a clerico-secular character, was, in the case of this church, early vested in
the family of O'Beollan.”[5]
What both of the Macdonald manuscript and the MacVurrich manuscript say, though, is that Patrick had land in Lewis.
The Macdonald manuscript says specifically,
“Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”[20]
The MacVurrich manuscript says, in less detail,
“His pedigree was from the men of Ross, and he had a third of Lewis and other properties on the mainland for his livelihood.”[21]
Celestine's charter of 1463 included the lands of Lochbroom. Could this be another detail that convinced Reeves, or possibly Skene, that the lands of Applecross, or more accurately, according to the charter, the lands of Lochbroom, Lochalsh, Lochcarron, Torridon and Kishorn, came to Celestine from Patrick the Red?
Patrick had 18 merks lands in Lochbroom. If a merk was ⅔ of a pound Scots, then 18 merks land would be valued at 12 pounds.[89]
Ronald Black, in his analysis of the Green Abbot pedigree found in the 1467 manuscript, makes a very detailed argument that Patrick the Red was abbot of Bragar, on the west coast of Lewis, seven miles from Carloway, or Carlebay.[24] Black also concludes, based on this 1467 manuscript, that the Green Abbot’s kindred were the Morrisons of Ness, and that their origins were at Aberuthven in Strathearn.[23]
Black says of the Earl of Ross connection,
“It may be that the fall of the Nicolsons meant the rise of the Green Abbot, for MacMhuirich tells us that Patrick was ‘son of Ruairi, son of the Green Abbot, son of the earl of Ross’ and that ‘his pedigree was from the men of Ross’, while MacDonald gives Patrick’s surname as Obeolan, which was also, he says, the surname of the earls of Ross. It is difficult to know what to make of this, but if MacDonald’s account came first (which appears to be the case) he seems to be saying that Patrick and the earl shared a common surname, and MacMhuirich deduces from this, quite wrongly, that the Green Abbot was a son of the earl of Ross. There is no Beollán in our pedigree, and the Green Abbot was certainly not a son of the earl of Ross, so all that we can say is that by Patrick’s time a myth appears to have grown up in Lewis that the Green Abbot and the old earls of Ross were of the same stock.”[25]
MacVurrich's manuscript goes on to say,
“And he was slain in the Garioch(?) in the retinue of MacDonald, namely Donald of Islay, for four men got separated from the army leading a detachment or party of the host which accompanied them, namely Norman MacLeod and Torquil his brother, Lachlan MacMillan and Gille Pádraig son of Ruairi. Gille Pádraig son of Ruairi and Lachlan MacMillan were slain, while Norman and Torquil survived the attack unscathed.”[21]
It is thought that this passage is describing the Battle of Harlaw and that Patrick the Red was slain there in 1411.
So, we have the entries in the Irish annals pertaining to Aporcrosan, as Reeves mentions. They end with the death of Mac Oige of Aporcrosan, abbot of Bennchor, in 801. As Reeves himself says, “This is the last reference to the place in the Irish Annals, and, it may be said, in all existing records, until it makes its appearance as “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros.”” This identification of Applecross as “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros” isn't found until 1575. But we do have mention of it 60 years earlier as “two chaplaincies lying and founded below the parish church of Abilcros under the diocese of Ross”. We know that Reeves was aware of this fact because he includes this document in his 'Appendix' section.
The important point to make here, though, is that there are no records of Maelrubha's monastery at Aporcrosan or of the parish church of Abilcros between the years 801 and 1515. There is not evidence of what became of it. We just know that it disappears from history shortly after Maelrubha's death and reappears 7 centuries later as a parish church.
Scotland in the 12th century
This disappearance of the monastery from records after 801 has been attributed to increased activity in the area by Viking invaders.[41][90] And Reeves does include in this paper the Scottish version of the story “that a body of pagan Norwegians, landing on the eastern shores of Ross, slew Malrubius, and dragged his body into the thickets to be devoured by wild beasts.”[40]
For quite a long period of time, the west coast of Scotland was under Norse control. It wasn't until 1263 that the Battle of Largs was fought, leading to the end of Viking influence over Scotland. It does seem, though, that during this time, the association of this place both with its name Aporcrosan, and with the Sagart Ruadh, the Red Priest St. Maelrubha, endured, appearing again in 1539 as “the chaplaincy of the chapel of Saint Mulrubi in Apilcors”.
And this leads us back to Lockcharron's legend, a story that describes how the Mackenzies came to be in possession of the lands of Applecross.
We can now revisit Reeves's statement made in the section of the paper in which attempts to provide a history of Maelrubha's monastery at Applecross.
“In this manner the church-lands of Applecross became an heirloom in one family, which family, namely O'Beollain, furnished the recipient of the first-created earldom of Ross.”
And we can see the steps he took to get there.
He finds in the Old Statistical Account makes mention of a place thought to be the “remains of an old religious house,” that once was “richly endowed with landed property, which tradition relates to have been conveyed, by the last Popish missionary, in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross, to his daughter.”
The minister of Lochcarron then tells the story that the Mackenzies of Coul came to be in possession of the lands of Applecross through marriage to a daughter of the Sagart Ruadh, or Red Priest, who is supposed to have been a MacDonald.
Skene makes, at some point, the first suggestions regarding the O'Beollans.
He finds in the Macdonald manuscript, originally written in the time of the last Earl of Ross, Charles I, a time when the Macdonald's might have been motivated to situate themselves to reclaim the Earldom, mention of a concubine of Alexander, Lord of the Isles, who was daughter of Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, an abbot. This document also claimed that, “This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross.”
Skene shares with him, at some point, a later manuscript, potentially based, and possibly expanding on, the Macdonald manuscript, containing a lineage from Patrick the Red through his father Rory through his father the Green Abbot to his father, an Earl of Ross.
From this, and additional information, potentially gathered by him, or provided by Skene, Reeves concludes that,
“The Red Priest was Gilla Patrick O'Beollan, whose daughter was married or handfasted to Alexander, Lord of the Isles of Lochalsh, and was mother of Celestine de Insulis, in whose charter of 1467 these lands are included.”
By “these lands,” he is meaning the lands of Applecross. From the genealogical information provided by the manuscripts, he concludes that Patrick O'Beollan's ancestors where the Earls of Ross.
As an antiquarian and Bishop of the Church of Ireland, Reeves was already aware of the Irish Ó Beólláin family who were herenachs of St Columba's church of Drumcliff. He also knew of the connection between St Columba and Maelrubha. From this, based solely on the name O'Beollan, he drew an additional connection from Applecross back to Ireland.
What we have from the documents is:
Saint Maelrubha, the Red Priest or Sagart Ruadh, who founded the monastery at Aporcrosan and died in 721.
The Green Abbot who’s kindred were the Morrisons of Ness.
Celestine de Insulis, son of Alexander Macdonald, Earl of Ross, who was granted on February 2, 1463, not 1467, by his brother, John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, the lands of Lochbroom, Lochalsh, Lochcarron, Torridon and Kishorn, in the earldom of Ross and sheriffdom of Inverness. Lochbroom, Lochalsh, and Lochcarron parishes were later large areas to the north and south of Applecross peninsula. These were not the lands of Applecross. Loch Torridon bounds Applecross peninsula to the north and Loch Kishorn bounds Applecross peninsula to the south. In the Statistical Account of 1792, the minister of Applecross stated that the parish was divided into three districts, Lochs and Tirdon, Kishorn, and Applecros. In 1463, Torridon and Kishorn may have been considered 'lands of Applecross'.[91] In the feudal system, Celestine may have had rule over these lands, but they would've been inhabited by other groups.
Alexander of the Isles, lord of Lochalsh, son of Celestine de Insulis.
Roderick Mackenzie who married a daughter of Donald Gorm Macdonald and was granted by Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, in 1569, half the lands of Bounadell, half the lands of Longoll and Athechork, half the lands of Kippeche, half the lands of Satrell and Drumloy, half the lands of Corlmvir, half the lands of Corchirie, half the lands of Coulnakill, half the lands of Ardestaig, half the lands of Scheildaig, half the lands of Dybege, half the lands of Rischill, half the lands of Lestang, lying in the county of Ross and the sherrifdom of Inverness as the patrimony and property of the said chaplaincy.
There is nothing here that would indicate a long line of lay-abbots of Aporcrosan descended from the Earls of Ross.
References to Maelrubha's church of Aporcrosan disappear from records in 801. We next see, in 1515, two chaplaincies lying and founded below the parish church of Abilcros under the diocese of Ross. The church relinquishes ownership to the Mackenzies in 1569.
Rev. Scott was questioning Reeves's conclusion that Patrick the Red was the same man as the Red Priest of Applecross as early as 1909.[92] Although, in a footnote he does say, “Evidently when the Vikings made Applecross untenable as a religious centre the O'Beollans, the ancestors of the Rosses, usurped the rights and powers the Ab.”[22] It's not clear, then, whether or not Scott looked deeply enough to question Reeve's O'Beollan connection to Applecross.
Alexander Grant said, in 2000, though, that the earl of Ross, Farquhar MacTaggart,
“is usually believed to have been a west-coast potentate, who was hereditary lay abbot of the secularised monastery of Applecross, originally founded by St Mael Rubha. But if so, then his surname ought to have been MacNab (mac an Aba, son of the abbot) rather than MacTaggart. In fact, the idea of Earl Farquhar's connection with Applecross originated no earlier than the mid nineteenth-century speculation of W. F. Skene and W. Reeves. Admittedly, speculation is essential when dealing with the early history of Ross (as this essay makes only too clear), but in that case it is distinctly unsound.”[93]
Yet, we still have, everywhere on the internet, this story that Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt, Earl of Ross, was of the family of lay-abbots of Applecross. As Skene said, “a fact, however notoriously false, if perseveringly asserted for a certain length of time, will at length be received as true.”
It doesn't appear that Reeves had reason to contrive this story. There was no ulterior motive. He was a Bishop of the Church of Ireland and his interest was primarily the life of the Irish Saint Maelrubha. He just seems to have been looking for a way to 'round out' this paper that dealt mostly with place names and Saint's festivals. The fact that he was also an antiquarian, and a member of organizations that would connect him with other antiquarians, provided him the opportunity to correspond with the likes of William Skene who had already published several books on the history of Scotland. As a side note to his paper, Reeves pieced together a few ideas that were circling in the day never imagining that it would take on the life that it has.
Genetic genealogy requires us, though, to have solid trees, or solid history, against which to compare DNA results.
There are two large groups of Y-DNA matches in the Ross Surname Project. One contains descendants of Hugh Rose, 1st of Kilravock. History suggests that this Hugh was descended, along with other English Ros families, from the men of Normandy who came to the British Isles with William the Conqueror. Y-DNA does tell us that the ancestors of this group were in the Normandy area as long as 4,500 years ago.[94]
Nothing found in the documented genealogies of these Ros and Rose families that would indicate a patrilineal relationship between Hugh of Kilravock and Fearchar, Earl of Ross.
Preliminary Y-DNA results from the other large group of matches show they descend from a man who came from Norway to the west of Scotland during the time of the Viking invasions. Without results from confirmed descendants of Fearchar, Earl of Ross, though, we can't say whether they are a match to this group of not.
If we continue to believe stories about the origins of these families simply because they have been told over and over again, we will not have accurate trees against which to compare our DNA results. We are fortunate to have a large group of participants in our Y-DNA project. But it is asking us to take a look again at the old stories with fresh eyes.
Timeline of documents
Below is a list of events and documents that Reeves references in this paper, along with any others found to be pertinent to the discussion.
The first 11 items in this list are 4 different events recorded variously in 3 different Irish annals. Reeves himself points out that the obit of MacOigi in 801 is, “the last reference to the place in the Irish Annals, and, it may be said, in all existing records, until it makes its appearance as “ane commoun kirk of the bischoprik of Ros.””
721 - Mael Ruba died in Apor Crossan in the 80th year of his age.[10] <ref name="Annals of Ulster U722.1" />
721 - St. Maelrubha, Abbot of Beannchair, after having gone to Alba, died in his own church at Apurcrosan, on the 21st of April; eighty years, three months, and nine days, was the length of his life.[9] <ref name="Masters M721.2" />
722 - Maolruba in Apurchrosan in the 80th year of his life 3 months and 29 days , on the 11th of the Kalends of Mai, the third day, rested.[11] <ref name="Tigernach T722.1" />
732 - Failbhe, son of Guaire, successor of Maelrubha, was drowned, and the crew of his ship along with him; they were twenty two in number.[12] <ref name="Masters M732.5" />
736 - Failbe son of Guaire, i.e. successor of Máel Ruba of Apor Crosán, was drowned in the depth of the sea together with his sailors, twenty-two in number.[13] <ref name="Annals of Ulster U737.2" />
737 - Failbe son of Guaire, i.e. the heir of Mael RubaiApuircrosan, was drowned in a deep open sea with his sailors to the number of 22.[14] <ref name="Tigernach T737.2" />
797 - and Macoige, of Aporcrosain, Abbot of Beannchair, died.[15] <ref name="Masters M797.6" />
801 - Mac Oige of Aporcrosan, abbot of Bennchor, Muiredach son of Óchobor, abbot of Cluain Ferta Brénainn, Coscrach grandson of Fraech, abbot of Lugmad, Clemens of Tír dá Glas—all ended their lives happily and in peace.[95] <ref name="Annals of Ulster U802.5" />
Chronicle of Melrose15 June 1215 - The lord king of Scotland's enemies entered Moray—namely Donald Ban, the son of Mac-William ; and Kenneth Macheth ; and the son of a certain king of Ireland—, with a numerous band of malignants. Maccintsacairt attacked them, and mightily overthrew the king's enemies ; and he cut off their heads, and presented them as new gifts to the new king. And because of this, the lord king appointed him a new knight.[29] <ref name="Early sources vol. 2 p. 404" />
15 July 1235 - On the first Sunday before the festival of the blessed Mary Magdalene, after collecting his army, the lord king entered Galloway. And he came to a place sufficiently fair to the eye; where, since the day was now spent, he proposed to fix his tents. But the Galwegians, knowing better the site of the place, after lurking the whole day in the mountains, now on the contrary gave battle to the king. The aforesaid place had given them great confidence; because it was full of marshes, covered over everywhere with grass and flowers; and in these the king's army for the greater part had sunk. But in the beginning of the contest, the earl of Ross, named Maccintsacairt, arrived, and attacked the enemy in the rear; and after the enemy was aware of this, he turned his back, and made for the mountains and woods. But the aforesaid earl, and many others besides, pursued them, making a great slaughter, and harassing them until dark. On the following day, the king, with his accustomed piety, granted peace to all who came to him. Therefore the Galwegians who had survived came to the king's peace, with ropes put round their necks.[96] <ref name="Early sources vol. 2 p. 496" />
10 May 1333 - Several charters are made on this date by Hugh, earl of Ross, to Hugh Ross, his son. Each lists William Ross as granter's son and heir. This William was the last earl of Ross of this line. His brother Hugh of Rarichie was the 1st of the cadet branch of Balnagown. This is also the first we see of this family using Ross as a surname.[97] <ref name="NRS GD297/165" />
10 January 1464 - Charter by John de Ile, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, with consent of his whole council, giving granting and confirming to his natural brother Celestine de Isles the lands of Fernacostrech, eg, Auchnes, Spanegydill, Devachcarry, Plodd and Pulrossy, with pertinents, in the Earldom of Sutherland, within the sheriffdom of Innernys; to be held of the granter and his heirs by said Celestine and the heirs lawfully procreated or to be procreated betwixt him and Fynvola, daughter of Lachlan McGillean of Doward, whom failing the lawful heirs of said Celestine and any other wife in fee and heritage forever, by all their right marches, in woods, plains, meadows, moors, marshes, grazings and pastures, etc, with 'wrak' and 'waith', mills, etc, courts and their issues, herezelds, bloodwites, etc; rendering therefor to said earl and his successors 6 pennies Scots in name of blench-farm yearly if asked; with clause of warrandice. Sealed at the castle of Dingvale.[98] <ref name="Acts of the lords of the Isles p. 130" />
23 November 1515 - At Edinburgh, By the presentation of Mr. ALEXANDER MACCLOID, directed to the bishop of Ross, to grant him the collation of Mr. Alexander over two chaplaincies lying and founded below the parish church of Abilcros under the diocese of Ross, when they happen to be vacant by the death or incapacity of Mr. Murdac and Mr. Cristini, the chaplains and now possessors of the same,— to the presentation of the king by his right of patronage and ordinary contribution to the said bishop, with full rights, etc. By Signature [etc., as above]. Sol. as above.[74] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 1 p. 409" />
28 May 1539 - At Sanctandrois, Presentation of D. JOHANNIS DONALDSOUN-over the chaplaincy of the chapel of Saint Mulrubi in Apilcors, under the diocese of Ross, now vacant by the death of the late D. Alexander McClode, etc. By Signature.[99] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 2 p. 450" />
20 March 1540 - At Stirling, Presentation of D. JOHN DONALDSOUN-over the chaplaincy of the chapel of Saint Malrube in Apilcroce, under the diocese of Ross, now vacant by the death of the late Mr. Christopher Johnesoun, the last owner of the same, regarding the presentation of the Lord King and the collation of the Bishop of Ross, etc. By Signature.[83] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 2 p. 514" />
29 March 1540 - At Stirling, ane lettre maid to M. JOHNE CAMEROUN and SCHIR JOHNE DONALDSOUN, chaplains, thare airis and assignais ane or ma,—of the gift of all gudis movable and unmovable quhilkis pertenit sumtyme to Schir Christe Johnesone, chaplane, and now pertenyng to oure soverane lord be resoun of eschete, throw being of the said Schir Christe borne bastard and deit bastard, etc. Per Signaturam.[100] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 2 p. 515" />
29 November 1540 - At Edinburgh, the Presentation of M. JOHN CAMROUN - over the chaplaincy of St. Malrubius in Apilcroce, under the diocese of Ross, when the same happened to be vacant by the resignation or dismissal of Mr. John Donaldsoun, the last chaplain and possessor of the same, regarding the presentation of the lord the king and the collation of the bishop of Ross, etc. By Signature.[84] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 2 p. 555" />
14 February 1542 - At Falkland, the presentation of Mr. MURDOCI JOHNESOUN, junior, chaplain, over half the chaplaincy of Apilcroce in the diocese of Ross, when the same happened to be vacant by the resignation, cession, or dismissal of Mr. MURDOCI JOHNESOUN, senior, to the presentation of the lord the king and the collation of the bishop of Ross, etc. By Signature.[101] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 2 p. 681" />
7 September 1548 - At Edinburg, The presentation of Murquhardi Johnestoune the younger over the chaplaincy of St. Mulrubi the martyr of Abilcors founded in the parish church of Ross below the same diocese now vacant or when the same happens to be vacant by the resignation or dismissal of Mr. Murquhard Johnestoune the senior now chaplain and owner of the same to the presentation of the Queen in the vacant seat of Ross and the ordinary contribution of the vicars general looking at the same etc.[102] <ref name="Proceedings vol. 3 p. 283" />
28 May 1549 - At Edinburgh, The presentation of Mr. John Donaldsoune over the chaplaincy of St. Malrwbij the martyr in Abilcors below the diocese of Ross now vacant or when it happens to be vacant by the resignation or resignation of master John Camroune now the chaplain and owner of the same to the presentation of the Queen with full right of patronage and the ordinary collation of the Vicar General of Ross in the vacant seat of the same, etc.[85] <ref name="Proceedings vol. 3 p. 284" />
between 1561 and 1566 - The united value of the chaplainries of Saint Monanis (in Kiltearn) and Apilcorce, held by Sir William Stewart vicar of Dingwall, was stated by him at 36 marks.[38] <ref name="Origines Paroch vol. 2 p. 404" />
17 October 1561 - At Edinburgh, Presentation of Mr. William Monro chaplain over the chaplaincy of Apilcroce below the refuge lie Girth of the same and the diocese of Ross now vacant by the death of the late Mr. John Donaldson the last chaplain and possessor of the same to the presentation of the Lord Queen in full right of patronage and with regard to the ordinary collation of the Bishop of Ross, etc.[85] <ref name="Proceedings vol. 3 p. 284" />
22 April 1569 - Precept of the Charter of Confirmation on the charter of fief made by Mr. William Stewart, chaplain of Apilcroce, under the diocese of Ross, with the express consent and assent of John, Bishop of Ross, and the Dean and Canons of the cathedral church of Ross, capitularly gathered to Rorio Makkangze and his male heirs, legitimately begotten or to be begotten of his body. to the conveyance of Kenzeoch McKangze of Kintaill and his heirs male to whomever bear the arms and surname of the said Kanzeocht and to their assigns to whomsoever of all and singular lands underwritten, viz. half the lands of Bounadell half the lands of Longoll and Athechork half the lands of Kippeche half the lands of Satrell and Drumloy half the lands of Corlmvir half the lands of Corchirie half the lands of Coulnakill half the lands of Ardestaig half the lands of Scheildaig half the lands of Dybege half the lands of Rischill half the lands of Lestang, lying in the county of Ross and the vicecounty of Inuerness to the said lord William as the patrimony and property of the said chaplaincy To be held of the said lord William and his successors[103] <ref name="Proceedings v. 3 pp. 284-285" />
4 August 1575 - Dalkeith. Presentation of Murdoch Johnnestoun to the parsonage and vicarage of Apilcroce, a common kirk of the bishopric of Ross, in the sheriffdom of Inverness; directing the bishop or commissioner of Ross to examine the said Murdoch and admit him if found qualified to serve as a minister.[80] <ref name="Reg Sec Sig vol. 7 p. 39" />
20 June 1576 - At Dalkeith, Ane lettre maid makand mentioun That ane of the chaplanries of Apilcroce liand in the diocie of Ros and schirefdome of Inuernes vaikis be the deceis of unquhil Sir Williame Stewart last possessour thairof and oure Souerane Lord being certefeit that Kenoch McKenze sone to maister Alexander McKenze of Kilchrist is of conuenient aige to enter in the studie of grammer and apt and disposit thairfoir As alsua hes promeist to be subject to discipline and continew thairin Thairfoir gevand grantand and disponand to the said Kenoche all and haill the said chaiplanrie of Apilcroce for his sustentatioun at the sculis for the space of seavin yeiris with power, etc.[81] <ref name="Proceedings vol. 3 p. 285" />
29 July 1583 - At Perth, Ane lettre maid to Patrik Dunbar sone to unquhile David Dunbar of Penik makand mentioun that the chaiplanrie of Apilcroce lyand in the dyocie of Ross and schirefdome of Inuirnes vaikis be outrunning of the gift thairof grantit to Kenzeocht McKainzie sone to Mr Alexander McKainzie of Kilchrist And being certifeit that the said Patrik Dunbar is of conveinient aige to enter in the studie of philosophie and apt and disposit thairfore Thairfore gevand grantand and disponand vnto him the said chaiplanrie of Apilcroce lyand as said is and that for the space of seven yeiris With power, etc.[81] <ref name="Proceedings vol. 3 p. 285" />
15 August 1607 - Charter by David [Lindsay], bishop of Ross, with consent of the dean, canons and chapter of the cathedral church of Ross, to Kenneth McKenzie of Kintaill of the kirklands of Cullicudden, Farnes Wester, Culboll, Wodheid, and many other subjects; with the patronage of the parish churches and parishes of Kintaill, Lochaillche, Lochcarrone, Apilcroce, Garloch, Lochbrume, and Assint; also the office of heritable constable of the castle of Ross. Dated at Leith, 15th August and at Cromartie 27th October 1607. [Two seals appended.][77] <ref name="NRS GD90/1/229" />
circa 1615 - The unknown author of the Cronicle of the Earlis of Ross manuscript stated that, "Of this Farqr discendit fyve erlis, being Ross of surname, viȝt Farqr the first, Williame the second, Williame the third, Hew the fourt, and William the fift ; but the sixt erle was namit Walter Ross, utherwayis Leslie, quha maryit the said fift erle of Ross his dochter, callit Euphame Ross."[31] <ref name="Cronicle of the Earlis 1850 p. 2" />
From this second sone of the Earle of Rosse, the lairds of Balnagown ar descended; and had by inheritance the lands of Rariechies and Coulleigh; wher yow may observe, that the laird of Balnagown his surname should not be Rosse, seing ther wes never any Earle of Rosse of that surname; bot the Earles of Rosse wer first of the surname of Builton, then they were Leslies, and last of all that earldom fell by inheritance to the Lords of the Yles, who resigned the sam into King James the Third his hands, the yeir of God 1477 : So I doe think that the lairds of Balnagowne, perceaveing the Earles of Rosse decayed, and that earldom fallen into the Lord of the Yles his hands, they called themselves Rosses, therby to testifie ther descent from the Earles of Rosse. Besyds, all the Rosses in that province ar vnto this day called in the Irish language, Clan-Leamdreis, which race, by ther owne tradition, is sprung from another stock. Bot I leave this, as litle apperteyning to my purposse.[32] <ref name="Earldom of Sutherland p. 36" />
6 February 1649 - Instrument of Sasine in favour of Agnes Fraser, second daughter of Hugh Fraser of Belladrome, and spouse of John McKenzie, apparent of Applecroce, of lands and towns of Kylburrie, Calnakill, Ardteaschlack, Schealdack, and the scheilling of Scammadill, in barony of Applecroce and sheriffdom of Innernes, in liferent, following on charter by said John McKenzie and Alexander McKenzie of Coull, his grandfather, dated 6th February 1649. Registered P.R.S. Inverness, 31st July 1649, i. July 26 28 & 30[78] <ref name="NRS GD23/10/35" />
“Alexander his son succeeded to his father's estate, and was proclaimed Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles after the accustomed manner, a man born to much trouble all his lifetime. First, he took to him the concubine, daughter to Patrick Obeolan, surnamed the Red, who was a very, beautiful woman. This surname Obeolan was the surnames of the Earls of Ross, till Farquar, born in Ross, was created earl by King Alexander, and so carried the name of Ross since, as best answering the English tongue. This Obeolan had its descent of the ancient tribe of the Manapii; of this tribe is also St Rice or Rufus. Patrick was an abbot, and had Carlebay in the Lewis, and the church lands in that country, with 18 merks lands in Lochbroom.”[20] <ref name="Collectanea p. 304" />
30 July 1662 - JOHN M'KEANZIE of Aplecroce, male heir of Alexander M'Keanzie de Coull, grandfather,—in lands of Aplecroce, comprising the villages and lands of Rassollis commonly called Over and Nether Rassollis, Resker, Toskag, Barradaill, Longoll, Keppach, Auchmoir, Sacadaill, Drumley, Culmoir, Tercherrie, Drumclaughan, Kirktoun de Aplecroce, Killiemoirie, Culdnakle, Ardestag, Schildag, Sacrell, Testang, Sadilack, Auchiechork, and Culnakle, with the advocacy of the church of Aplecroce, within the parish of Aplecroce and the bishopric of Ross.—E. 48m. et Ss. 4d. in augmentation, "fiefdom"[79] <ref name="Retours vol. 2 R & C 117" />
“Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses. He had for patrimony the third part of Lewis, and other lands upon the mainland.”[104] <ref name="Book of Clanranald pp. 212-213" />
“Close by the parish church, are the remains of an old religious house, where the standard and soles of crucifixes are still to be seen. It was richly endowed with landed property, which tradition relates to have been conveyed, by the last Popish missionary, in the place known by the designation of the Red Priest of Applecross, to his daughter.”[105] <ref name="Old Stat Acc vol. 3 p. 379" />
1854 - In the 2nd volume of Origines Parochiales, Cosmo Innes suggests of the building whose ruins remain beside the church in Applecross Parish, "This building therefore may possibly have been the chapel of Saint Malrube, either forming part of the old church or detached."[38] <ref name="Origines Paroch vol. 2 p. 404" />
27 February 1923 - D. Murray Rose, in a letter to the Inverness Courier, shows Celestine, brother of John, Earl of Ross, to have been “hopelessly illegitimate”, he gives interesting possibilities as to heiresses[106] <ref name="Complete Peerage vol. 7 p. 77-8 footnote d" />
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Airt, Seán Mac; Niocaill, Gearóid Mac (1983). The Annals of Ulster (xv + 2 plates) (1st ed.). School of Celtic Studies (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies) – via Corpus of Electronic Texts.
